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Roots

Truth be told — I picked the last of the carrots. I had one little section left but they have started growing again. They are covered with little hairy roots. Hairy is not a word one ever wants to hear in reference to food. I am going to leave a few to grow some seeds. Because carrots are biennial, they will produce seed the second year following a bloom that exactly resembles Queen Anne’s Lace. If times get really tough you can eat the root of the aforementioned. It’s white and not nearly as sweet as a domestic root, but you won’t die if you eat it.

Once spring happens everything seems in a big hurry. My hyacinths are about to burst and the early crocus have seen better days. The cool temperatures and the few snowy days have helped them hold their bloom a bit longer. There is nothing quite like deep purple crocus poking up through snow cover. I believe the variety is Flower Record. They are especially nice mixed with Pickwick which is purple with white stripes.

Here it is, Monday morning and the weatherman says there is 100 per cent chance of snow overnight. We’ll see . . . How can they be so wrong so often and keep their jobs? I, of course, fall for it every time. Don’t get me wrong. I like spring snow. I love getting one more day in the house for attending to paperwork and puttering. It comes soon enough and the next thing you know we will be complaining about the heat. When, oh when, will we accept the fact that weather, like family members, does not respond to criticism?

I hope some of you were able to look up Mary Clear of Tomorden, United Kingdom. This is the woman of Incredible Edible. She’s not only inspiring but pretty comical in her presentations. She will convince you to grow food right along with the ornamentals.

Vineyard Grocer has some Jilo eggplant plants ready for sale. They are quite large already. They probably should be bumped up into large pots now as it is still too cold to put them outside. I know the Brazilian community is quite fond of them. I find them a bit bitter. Perhaps I should ask around for some cooking tips.

The Vineyard Grocer across from the Tisbury cemetery has all things organic and at very reasonable prices. Their other store, Tisbury Farm Market, just up the street, has great meats and produce. I’m just saying!

Near the Vineyard Grocer building, overhead, a large congregation of pigeons is often on the power lines. I never see such a number anywhere else. I find it curious and wish I were more of a nature detective.

Since Easter is early this year and it has been chilly, I wonder if shop owners will put together their window boxes. I love how town looks with everyone decorating for spring.

Thanks to Paul Karasik. He gave me a list of quotations. I’d like to share some with you. Fannie Lou Hamer (remember her? She was beaten nearly to death by a white jailer during the civil rights era in the deep South). She said “With the people, for the people, by the people.” I crack up when I hear it. I say “with the handful, for the handful, by the handful” because that’s what really happens.

Then there’s George Carlin: “They call it the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.”

Simone de Beauvoir noted, “How hard is it for Americans, even Americans of good will, not to consider themselves the center of the universe.”

“America is a large friendly dog in a small room. Every time it wags its tail, it knocks over a chair,” said Arnold Toynbee.

“Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.”